Call of Brainiac
by quantum-enigma
Summary: Protheans experimented on primitive humans. They designed one subject, Kal-El, for one purpose: destroy Brainiac, the machine which wipes out galactic civilization every 50,000 years. Kal-El woke to find the Protheans extinct and Brainiac gone. He has waited millennia, and now emerges to fight. The Systems Alliance and Cerberus grow ever ambitious, while racial tensions rise.
1. Bring Down the Sky

_2183: Batarian terrorists hijack an asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with colony world of Terra Nova. The asteroid, propelled by three engines, now ignites the planet's atmosphere. Millions of humans may well perish within an hour. The Systems Alliance sends an elite team to divert the catastrophe. I damaged my ship's engines in rushing to help._

* * *

><p>John steered the Mako up a slope and stopped at a cliff edge overlooking a rocky stretch to the fusion torch and station. He opened the hatch and hopped down, joined by a quarian, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, and an asari, Liara T'Soni.<p>

"I have faith in you," Liara said. Her twinkling eyes stared at John in what he thought was excitement. "You're the human who humiliated their race in the Skyllian Blitz."

"They'll be extra hostile because of that."

"Ready, Commander." Tali typed into her omni-tool, coding her combat drone.

They skidded down the rocky face, all but shadows until they reached the glow of the torch. Small black cylinders poked from the ground between the three squadmates and their goal.

John caught movement far ahead and raised his Tsunami assault rifle to peek through the scope. A batarian sniper took aim at him from behind a ruined turret. He shot the thing through its neck. Four batarians popped from cover and fired. Shots grazed kinetic barriers. Liara and Tali each took out one with their pistols, John the last.

The man walked forward a few meters and looked down at the forearm computers of his Mercenary armor. "Looks like all of them out here. Watch your sensors for the blasting caps."

His sensors beeped and a dot appeared on the radar grid. They turned to see a trooper step out from a row of boulders. A rocket whizzed toward them.

The projectile shattered John's rifle and slammed into his midsection. Pain and light him overtook as he flew back. More rapid beeps indicated the blast had sent him toward a blasting cap. While in the air, he saw his two comrades leap to the side and open fire.

* * *

><p>A young woman stood at an open cupboard and shoveled out cans of food into a duffel bag. A toddler sat on the kitchen table a few feet away and wailed.<p>

"The skycar will be here in a minute to pick us up, sweety." Her hands and knees shook.

She glanced out a window. An asteroid all but consumed the sky, gravitational mass yanking at the seas. Waves rose and crashed on the mountainside. Rocks by tons plummeted past or landed on the narrow road in front of their home. How long would the structure hold?

A wave busted through the window. She jumped onto the table to shield her son. Water splashed the kitchen interior. The child went silent, clung to her tunic.

The ceiling exploded behind. Dust and plastic pelted their backs. A small tree attached to a chunk of soil now blocked the exit.

Reality set in. They were going to die. Drowned, crushed, or incinerated in the beast's friction.

Something new came from the north, spurting smoke and flames, descending diagonally and then out of view. A ship?

_Hope they died quickly_, she thought. The sky brightened further. A wave gained absurd height and rushed toward their home. "Squeeze your eyes shut. Try to sleep."

The wall burst open, she registered a blur and the feeling of limbs wrapping around her and her child. They rotated about. Whatever had them took the impact as they crashed into the opposite wall. Wind and water washed over her body. The tsunami turned the house to splinters far below.

She coughed and shook herself. A man flew them upward toward the mountaintop. She ran her fingertips down the chain-link texture of his body suit, pressed in and felt metal hardness.

* * *

><p>Kal zoomed over the edge to flat land and set his load on the grass off a highway leading from a colony town.<p>

The boy grinned up at his rescuer.

"Thank you," the woman said. "Where are all the other soldiers with flying suits?"

"Situation's still critical," He ignored her question and pointed down the highway. "Be careful with that crowd." Humans fled by the hundreds on foot, in skycars and six-wheeled ET3's. They tripped, shoved, dropped their packs and shouted curses. The ruckus panic mostly muffled the cries of surprise from citizens who had spotted him flying.

Kal ascended skyward until he was a safe distance from the people, then aimed for the asteroid and accelerated to faster than sound. "Activate solar reserves, ninety percent." The rectangular modules along the outside of his arms buzzed and glowed.

He entered scorching flames, then slammed palms and shoulders into the rock. He mentally triggered a fiber-optic string along his spinal cord which charged the element zero stored in his every cell. The resultant energy field spread over the asteroid. He tightened muscles to their fullest and willed himself upward.

Soon, instead of an arid landscape, he saw space and stars.

* * *

><p>"Report, Charn," Balak said to another batarian entering the room. The station shook. Everyone steadied themselves against the quake.<p>

"Computers were right. Our course is headed back out into space. What did this?"

Balak growled and pressed the point of his pistol into the head of a human male, who was kneeling. "A question for you to answer, scientist."

The human's sister stood a few meters away, guarded by two batarians armed with assault rifles. She covered her face and sobbed.

"How should I know? You're in charge of the fusion torches now."

A scraping sound came from the portal. Onk dragged in a quarian whose helmet was blood-splattered. He dropped her in a corner, and gestured for Charn to help him. They brought in a fainted asari and an armored human.

"We caught a few vermin," Onk said. "Commander Shepard and two of his squad. Blasting caps knocked them out. Quarian probably has a deadly infection by now."

The human woman turned, mortified. "Shepard. But. . ."

"Shoot his heart with adrenaline," Balak said. "We'll see what we can squeeze from him." He turned his attention back to the scientist. "Those three were out there sabotaging our operation. Tell us how to fix the torches."

"The colonists are safe, Aaron. Their lives are worth dying for."

"I know, Kate."

"Wrong response." Balak kicked Aaron in the ribs.

* * *

><p>Kal floated some distance away and surveyed the station with x-ray vision. Three bombs, powerful by the look of their circuitry, awaited detonation. Defense drones and batarians patrolled every room and walkway.<p>

_I could try negotiation_, he thought. _But the terrorists might use the hostages as shields to escape before I could convince them to stand down._

Their transport was nowhere in sight. Probably concealed in underground lead-lined walls. He needed a minute or so to even figure out how to dismantle those bombs, and the defense drones would cause more delay.

He found an isolated corner on the top landing. He closed one eye and activated the miniaturized oculus in the other. A beam shot from his pupil and burned a hole in the metal roof large enough for him to enter.

Kal sucked in his stomach and dove inside. He turned a corner and entered a room housing the first bomb. Convoluted wires, tubes, and chips filled the contraption, but its design seemed overall human. Everything else slowly faded from his consciousness as he worked out the puzzle.

"I see." He shot a pin-sized beam at the right spot and turned the bomb to junk.

Something flashed and hit his shoulder. _That stings_, he realized.

A drone had spotted him. More shots came his way. He dodged, zoomed at the machine, and punched it. Done.

Extreme use of his powers had worn on him. Electrically-charged element zero heated his cells to possibly dangerous levels. He needed to keep himself in check until he could heal, and use his powers sparingly. A challenge, considering the terrorists knew an intruder was present.

The second bomb rested in a room across an expanse which dropped to the first floor. Panels in railing along the wall walkways and center bridge could serve as cover. He ran out and instantly met three batarians to his right. To take the bridge meant moving closer to them and being exposed to gunfire on his way across. But a round-trip might cost time he lacked.

He tore two panels from the railing, one in each hand, and raced toward the enemies, who loosed a flurry of molten bullets. His crude shields held.

The man crouched as he traversed in a calf-over-shin jog, shields extended to either side. A guard appeared at the far end, and the other three ceased fire. "Give our heat syncs a few seconds to cool. We'll get him. Whoever the hell he is."

Throwing distance. He flung a panel horizontally at the guard who stood at the destination and bolted forward, holding the remainder behind him for wise measure. The object made contact with the batarian's face, causing him to drop his gun, which Kal caught in one hand and slammed into the guard's head.

The group was already well across by the time Kal entered the room. He deactivated the bomb, turned, and found himself trapped as batarians gathered at the door.

_When things are tense, take deep breaths._ The exhale threw them from their feet, but Kal was winded. He repeatedly pulled the trigger of his stolen assault rifle, aimed for hands.

When the situation seemed to be in his favor, a guard stepped out, an aura radiating from his body. Kal's rifle had overheated. The biotic raised his arm and the energy flared. Kal felt his body go rigid.

He dropped the rifle, fell to the floor, and struggled to break from the stasis web, but was paralyzed. Biotics canceled out his own eezo-based powers. Fallen batarians stood up. A second biotic used telekinetic push to escort him alongside the party while the first kept him in stasis.

"We're done for if the Alliance mass-produces whatever kind of suit he's wearing," a captor said. "Guy's kinetic shields are insane. Best I've ever seen."

* * *

><p>They arrived in an antechamber where three wounded leaned against a wall. Two human hostages were present, one a man on his knees.<p>

"Balak, sir. This human infiltrated the station, took out a few of us and dismantled two of the bombs."

Balak shot the male hostage, who crumpled over dead. The woman screamed and ran at the fallen man, but a couple underlings held her back.

"Bring him over."

Kal saw motion from the human soldier against the wall.

Shepard set his feet on the floor, leaned forward, and lunged at the nearest biotic. He snatched a pistol from the alien's belt before they had time to respond, and, in the next instant, shot the batarian biotics dead.

Balak discharged a shot into Shepard's exposed head. The soldier fell.

The field faded from Kal. Here was a chance to use the last of his reserves. He zipped to Balak and brought his knee up to the alien's outstretched arm. It shattered at the elbow. He then zoomed to Charn, picked him up by the throat, and hurled him at the last armed terrorist.

He super-sped to the last bomb, ruined it, and walked back to meet with Kate. She sat beside her brother's body and stared up in amazement.

"I'm sorry you had such a rough day. Wish I could've saved him."

She shook her head. "Aaron convinced me to come work at this research facility. He said it'd be an adventure. He was right."

* * *

><p>Liara opened her eyes and squinted against bright light. She felt comfortable, but a bit sore. Someone had dressed her in a loose gown, slits down the sides. Bandages soaked in some slippery substance were wrapped around her forehead and hips. She turned and saw Tali on a bed beside her, hooked to various machines by tubes.<p>

A middle-aged doctor holding a datapad walked over. "Our database says you're Liara T'Soni, daughter of Matriarch Benezia. That right?"

The asari nodded and tried to occupy herself by retying her gown. Talk of her mother made her nervous these days.

"We applied medi-gel to the worst wounds, but you'll need relocated to a proper hospital ASAP. Scanners revealed heavy amounts of shrapnel in your abdomen." He nodded to Tali. "Your quarian friend over there? She's the one I'm worried about. Exo-cybernetics are way out of my league."

"The help is much appreciated," Liara said. "Please send a message to the Normandy, telling them we require immediate transport off the asteroid." She straightened. "Where is the Commander?"

The doctor grimaced. "Damn. I thought one of the women already told you. We declared him dead about ten minutes ago."

Dread gave her new vigor. She slid from the bed and grabbed the doctor by his shoulders. "Where is he?"

He wriggled away and turned to point at an bed across the room. "He was right there. The scientist, Kate, said there was another guy here before we came. A secret agent, or something. Maybe he would know?"

* * *

><p>Kal had taken off John's helmet and beheld a face eerily similar to his own. A supernatural sign, or advantageous coincidence?<p>

He stood in shadow beside a cliff, wearing John's battered armor over his body suit. "I promise to reveal this deception to the galaxy, eventually. You deserve to be remembered as you were." Impersonating the man who saved you, for any reason, was ethically dubious. Guilt would follow wherever he went.

He walked up a slope and stopped at the crest to watch Terra Nova shrink.

_I come for you. . . Brainiac._

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTES<p>

9/25/14 - Grammar adjustments


	2. Blending In

_From: Admiral Hackett_

_Commander Shepard,_

_Great work on Asteroid X57. You saved a lot of civilian lives and struck a blow against those who would see our race eradicated._

_I understand your concussion left blank spaces in the mission report. We're investigating anomalies on Terra Nova that should answer our questions._

_Visit the Citadel, but keep it short. The Council wants you on Noveria to neutralize the possible geth presence._

_We placed an undercover agent there some months ago for other reasons. They contacted us yesterday to report suspicious activity. Matriarch Benezia arrived at Port Hanshan with a squadron of asari commandos and a shipment of machinery, setting up base a few klicks away at Peak 15. Shortly after, official and Alliance-secured communications with Port Hanshan went quiet._

_Use whatever resources and force necessary to take the Matriarch into custody._

* * *

><p>Jeff Moreau and Kaidan Alenko sat in the cockpit. They had set a course for the Citadel, where Tali could receive cutting-edge treatment.<p>

"Hey, Staff Lieutenant," Jeff said in a low voice. "Does the Commander look different to you?"

Kaidan sighed. "He refuses to be examined by Doctor Chakwas. She thinks those batarians broke his nose and chin."

"I think they broke his pride while they were at it."

"We should mind our own business, Joker."

_They're fooled, thus far._ Kal-El employed his enhanced senses to monitor the _SSV Normandy'_s crew between studying Alliance files.

He sat in Shepard's austere quarters in front of a holo-screen which displayed footage of the Commander, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams on planet Eden Prime. They took cover behind a boulder on a grassy stretch, from where they exchanged fire with geth. Several husks lay dead on the ground, but more ran toward the trio. Some of the mutated humans were impaled on spikes in the background; at times, the spikes lowered to set the subjects free.

The team went on foot across countryside mounds to a tram station. A ship launched from the valleys beyond. Its chrome body was in roughly the form of a hominid skull. Translucent material plated the eyes and grin. Long tentacles, attached to the underside, straightened and shot energy from their ends. Then it was gone. _Only a piece of my main adversary._ Kal decided to study those frames of footage later, and continued watching.

The squad stood on a flat loading platform. Kal wished he could see their expressions.

_Shepard approached an ancient beacon, experienced visions of genocide._

The man floated in front of a stone pillar, eyes glowing, arms outstretched to the sides. Fiery energy connected him with the artifact. Ashley lay on the ground close by.

_Suspect: Saren Arterius, a turian. Spectre, or secret agent, for the Citadel Council. Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya provided evidence to implement him in Eden Prime atrocities. Council sanctioned Shepard to hunt down and stop Saren._

_First lead is Matriarch Benezia, mother of the archaeologist Liara T'Soni._

_And as for Commander John Shepard himself. . . let's see. Born and raised in the colony of Mindoir. Witnessed batarian slavers slaughter family at age sixteen. Joined Alliance at age nineteen. Went on to save hundreds of civilians against slavers on Elysium._

Kal soon left his new quarters to wander the _Normandy_. The Codex said the ship's construction was a Council-ordered cooperation between human and turian, meant to relieve some tension left after the First Contact War. He wondered how much of their hard feelings carried to the design. It was too gloomy and plain for him.

The crew somehow kept up a bit of morale, despite their metal trappings and strange missions.

Kal ended up in the mess area of the quarters deck, where a turian passed by. "Have a few minutes, Garrus?"

Ashley and Wrex were in the area, as well. He beckoned them over. The three exchanged glances and moved closer.

"I was ready for a long break from the Citadel," Garrus said. "Think I'll stay on board while we're docked and install upgrades on our rifles. Promise you'll take Wrex and I on the next mission. Our trigger fingers are twitching."

"We need to cover the subject of missions." Kal walked around the lounge table and claimed a seat in the middle. He motioned for the others to join him.

Ashley was the first to move, taking a seat directly across from him.

Garrus sat off to her side.

"I'll pass," Wrex said. "Those chairs hurt my tail bone. What's the news, Shepard?"

Kal set his hands flat on the smooth surface. "We can trust our instincts to help us survive in life-or-death situations. Sometimes the two options are kill or be killed. I accept that war, once started, will include bloodshed."

His subordinates seemed confused, but he continued steadily.

"Take a deep breath, because what I'm going to say is radical. I want the three of you to find gentler means of victory when possible. Use the environment. Or exploit a physical weakness in your enemy."

Garrus groaned in skepticism. "Sounds like a slippery way of doing things."

Wrex stepped closer and pounded the tabletop. "I blast anyone who tries to blast me. That's all there is to it."

"I respect the moral fiber." Ashley's tonality was careful. "But too much empathy while on the battlefield gets you killed."

Kal nodded. "I accept the responsibility of setting an example. Maybe you'll come around if you see the philosophy applied. Dismissed."

The woman and krogan traveled together toward the stairs.

Wrex groaned. "He's softer than I thought."

"Something traumatized him on that asteroid," she said.

* * *

><p>"You are cleared for Dock 422," a female voice announced. "An emergency transport is ready to lift your injured to the nearest hospital."<p>

Kal kept a straight face as he stood beside Jeff and took in the majestic sight of the Citadel. Over fifty-thousand years had passed since he'd been here; granted, he'd spent most that time in stasis.

Crew members pushed Liara and Tali's stretchers from the airlock into the docking bay, and handed them off to medics.

First Kal strolled the Presidium and soaked in panoramic views. Entirely different races dominated the Citadel now. But structures along the curved inner arms were largely the same, albeit rearranged in places. Species of trees and bushes were familiar. He once walked those same bridges and stairs, idled with friends atop those balconies.

He stepped down to a veranda above a lawn, where the crystal waters of a pond reflected nebula light.

_It was right around here that I earned the nickname Monkey. A bunch of kids walked close and jokingly argued which one of them was going to put me in a cage and take me home as a pet. I told them they'd have to catch me first. I climbed down to the lawn, threw some dirt at them, then climbed up a tree._

A family dined a level above him, sharing their opinions on alien cuisine. C-Sec officers on break chatted up an asari shop attendant, exchanging wit and chuckles. A salarian reporter interviewed an elcor about its role in a theatrical play scheduled for tomorrow. Everyone here seemed content to happy, caught in the present or excited for the near future.

Loneliness wracked his insides. He had been too human to be a true Prothean. Now the reverse was somehow true. _I need company. Let's see how our young scientist fares._

* * *

><p>Kal stood at Liara's bedside in the hospital.<p>

A nurse brought him a report of her condition, explaining that Liara had suffered head trauma and internal bleeding from shrapnel. Surgery was finished in the time taken for him to travel there. Doctors expected a full recovery, but that was another week away.

Liara studied Kal with sparkling eyes as the nurse spoke. He became nervous that she would notice too many details distinguishing him from Shepard. He forced himself to smile and return her gaze.

The nurse handed him a datapad to fill out. He did so, confirming the Alliance would cover certain expenses, and handed it back. "Thank you. I'll leave you two alone to talk."

"Feel ready for more work next week?" Kal asked.

"The incident helped put my life into perspective. I am happy the geth trapped me on Therum. How else would we have met?"

"You know how to put a positive spin on pain and fear."

"Well, archaeologists learn to view the past through unique lenses. But my mind's on the future, as well. I want to continue as a part of your life. Even after we defeat Saren." Liara reached over and grasped his hand. "Take care in apprehending my mother, Shepard. Benezia has become a dangerous woman."

The man gave her hand a quick squeeze, and nodded. "She's our link to Saren right now. I promise to bring her in alive."

_Liara's adorable, I'll admit. I want a woman, though. Someone with emotional fortitude and worldly experience._

He visited Tali across the hall. Tanks pumped gaseous antibiotics into a transparent case where she lay. In place of her normal outfit was a bulky suit. She wore a new helmet, tinted visor hiding her features. He preferred to see her face, if ever, when she was well again. Monitors attached to the wall showed low heart and brain activity. A doctor approached, told him mostly the obvious, and handed him datapad.

The doctor was an old human male who looked ready to weep. "What do you think of handing her back to the quarian flotilla?"

"The flotilla lives in borderline poverty. Your team has all the expertise and supplies needed. I know her condition is demanding, but persevere with her."

Depressed by the hospital, Kal spoke his best wishes to Tali and left.

He took a rapid transit to a bar called _Chora's Den_, where he suspected some of his crew drank.

Ashley and Kaidan sat at a round table. Kal passed a krogan bouncer, who nodded to him. In a corner, an asari dancer writhed on a turian's lap. Other dancers entertained the room at large from raised platforms at the center.

"Did you visit Tali?" Kaidan asked.

"Sleeping." Kal sat beside the Staff Lieutenant. "Doctor said her enviro-suit sealed itself at breech points. I gave them permission to pump her full of immuno-boosters and risk surgery."

Ash stifled a burp. "It was either take a chance or learn about her death from infection. Quarians are fragile as wine glasses."

"Anyone who overheard you is going to think we're snobs." Kaidan shook his head.

"I'll stop being snobbish." She polished off her drink and licked her lips. "Shepard. I need to ask a question, or I'll lose hours of sleep tonight."

An asari waitress walked to their table, hips swaying. Kal welcomed the diversion and pointed to a nice-looking drink on the menu. His two friends gave him weird looks after the waitress left. He realized that Shepard must have usually ordered a different alcoholic drink. Or had Shepard been a non-alcoholic person? Records only covered so much.

"What's the harm in trying something new?"

They shrugged and sent their attention elsewhere. But after a minute of silence, Ashley spoke again. "Where did your new philosophy come from? The whole matter of killing."

"This is the wrong location. I'll be happy to answer later, somewhere else."

"You're worried that spelling out your thoughts will make you seem weak in this rough crowd. Am I right?" The woman lightly kicked him under the table.

Kal felt exposed. "My mentor taught me that a civilization's integrity is measured by its ability to preserve and nurture life." His drink arrived, and he used the excuse to begin a conversation about liquor.

* * *

><p>The <em>Normandy<em> entered the exosphere of Noveria. Kal strode into the cockpit, followed by Ashley and navigator Charles Pressly.

"Requesting clearance to dock, traffic control." Jeff massaged his forehead as he looked over his shoulder. "I've tried to hail them a dozen times. The blizzard might be screwing the signal, or their comm could be damaged."

"More likely they're ignoring us," Ashley muttered.

An alarm sounded on the pilot console. Screens showed the positions of orbital defense satellites and their predicted beam and missile trajectories. Jeff's hands sped over graphical interfaces.

Many satellites fired in unison. The ship dodged attacks as they came, anticipated and avoided others fractions of a second prior, always on the brink of atomization.

"Come as close to Peak 15 as you can," Kal ordered. "Prepare to drop the Mako on my signal."

"Aye, sir. I'll get you down there safely." There was doubt in Jeff's voice.

"I must object." Pressly leaned forward so he could look Kal in the face. "We can return with reinforcements. This is the epicenter of stock-trading for hundreds of light-years around. Their defenses must be even worse on the surface."

Kal kept his mouth shut and his eyes pointed ahead at the main screen.

The Normandy began to experience minor turbulence as it raced into the atmosphere. Both Ash and Pressly grabbed Kal's either arm to keep steady. Explosions pushed away and replaced rolling wintry clouds.

Kal turned to Ashley. "I want you and Alenko to run recon at the port. We'll pressure the opposition at both ends."

"You're sure that's. . ." She trailed off, straightened her back, and gave an exaggerated nod. "Yes, sir, commander."

Pressly scratched his bald head and muttered, clearly bothered.

"The ground-to-air guns are joining the celebration." Jeff kept at the controls with constant vigor.

Kal exited, speed-walking down the corridor. He was almost to the stairs at the back of CIC when Pressly jogged up beside him.

"Am I going to have to report you for negligence?" The navigator's was voice hushed, but frantic. "This place is a strategical death trap for us."

"We're the best of the best." Ashley had sneaked up on Pressly. "Meaning we're the military's crazy stuntmen."

"Thanks, Williams," Kal said. They reached the bottom of the stairs. "We'll sit and talk later, XO. Back up to your station."

The other man sighed. "Aye, sir."

Kal and Ashley entered the elevator together and stood side by side. The door slid shut.

"You're daring today," she said. "Be warned, though. I think everyone on board wants to turn you in for a psych-eval."

"You included?"

"I'm worried. We've only known each other for a week, but I understand what everyone means when they say you're a different person."

He wondered how much longer the facade could possibly hold. Another day or two, realistically. He might well need to disappear after this mission and assume a new identity in the military. But how?

The door opened. Garrus, Wrex, and Kaidan waited in the garage, armed and suited.

"Make me proud again, Ash." And he made for the Mako.


	3. Old Mysteries

Six-year-old Kal-El sat on the carpeted floor of his bedroom. Dozens of six-inch tall plastic action figures crowded together in front of him; some were warriors adorned in bulky armor and carrying guns, and others were civilians in plain garb. They moved of their own accord, and spoke in low voices. The boy liked designing toys on his parents' 3D printer.

He someday wanted to make a toy as realistic as the Citadel model beside him, originally given to him by his mother. He picked up the model and looked at the undersides of the partly-opened five arms, or wards, to see the cities. The manufacturers' machines looked to have meticulously copied every possible detail onto the scaled-down version. _Why were all the plants dead inside, when I first got this?_ He had since opened the small Citadel, placed artificial trees and lawns inside, and used sticky-gel for water in the streams and ponds. _I'll visit the real place someday_, he thought. _Ma said so._

He set the model back down and looked to his planets. They were plastic balls attached to the ceiling by string, though he had gone through a lot of work making them appear like random planets, using paint and clay. Sunlight entered between window blinds and hit miniature Mars. The red planet was supposedly once similar to earth, his home, but that was millions of years ago.

A knock came at the door. He grinned and stood up. "Come in."

His adoptive mother entered, dressed in a sleek, tight body suit. Her ridged cranium was shaped like a wide diamond, the bottom point reaching down to the top one-third of her face. She had four circular eyes, two on each half of her face, the small secondary pair set further back and up from the primary. The prothean woman also had four breasts, one pair under the larger.

"How's your project coming?" She stepped to the edge of his fighter-shaped bed frame and sat, knees together.

Kal went to his desk, snatched a small remote control from a drawer, and walked over to her.

"I followed all the instructions in the manual," Kal said. "And I put the control together all by myself. My own hands, my own basic tools."

His mother nodded. "We depend on synthetics to do our work, but a soldier should always prepare for when he's in a tough situation." Her voice was the most soothing sound he could imagine. "That's what you are, Kal-El. Our little soldier."

He sat down beside her on the bed and leaned on her shoulder. She put an arm around him and kissed the top of his head.

Kal's father always acted like a disaster had happened when she reciprocated the boy's affection. "When he's a grown human, will you bring him lunch every day in his barracks? When he scratches his cheek on the battlefield, will you rush to him with a bandage?"

Despair weighed in his stomach. Someday soon, he knew, the Mars Council would separate him from his mother in a bid to toughen him. How could he convince them that his mother was the best thing for him? He looked up at her, eyes misted.

She smiled, holding him tight to her. "Show me, when you're ready."

He wiped his eyes, pointed the controller at the Citadel model on the floor, and flipped the main switch with his thumb. The control shook and buzzed as a thin cloud of glowing particles writhed out. The cloud stretched out and engulfed the mini-Citadel, then spread to cover the action figures. Civilians tried to run away, or stood in place and screamed. Soldiers fired condensed air at the giants upon the bed. Static electricity sparked over the toys. Kal pressed a button. The toys lifted from the floor and rose toward the ceiling.

A smell of burning plastic and rubber filled his nostrils, and he realized the control had begun smoking. His mother gasped. "OK, dear, turn it off." He did so. The Citadel and artificial people flew in all directions at great speeds. Parts exploded and planets bounced wildly off the walls. A stray piece smacked Kal's forehead, and another struck his mother in the eye.

"Are you all right, ma?"

She covered her eye with a small, three-fingered hand. "My eye will be irritated for the rest of today, but yes."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you did the best you could." She stood, brushed off her front, and took a bossy tone when she next spoke. "Get this room cleaned. And throw that dangerous controller in the trash compactor outside, before it explodes and burns down the facility." She opened his window, making visible the topmost portions of smooth, blade-shaped skyscrapers. Dusty, lightning-shot clouds boiled in the distant sky.

"Can't a bot do all the cleaning?"

"Did a bot make the mess?"

"Hey, ma. Wait." He took the Citadel from the floor and held it up between them. "Next I'm going to make a replica of the research facility, and put as much care into my work as the makers of this."

His mother titled her head and frowned. "Your father brought that home from a tour one day." Her voice dropped. "He acted so funny when I asked him about it. Keep this a secret, but I think he was a little shy at bringing you a gift. He can be adorable when he wants to."

* * *

><p>Ages later...<p>

Kal steered the Mako up a curvy path between a cliff face and drop-off. Snow and wind beat at the vehicle. The interior was warm, but horribly cramped. The Commander sat in the driver's seat, wishing he could stretch his limbs, while Wrex and Garrus sat in the back. They stayed quiet except to point out enemies or geographical anomalies on the radar. The squad depended on the radar to compensate for poor visibility, and sometimes even that was a sketchy guide. Kal tried to use his x-ray vision, but high concentrations of certain minerals in the mountains left his field almost as limited as his partners.

Two geth juggernauts and an armature waited half a kilometer ahead. The armature fired first. Kal answered with cannon rounds. He pressed the propulsion and rose above the enemy missiles.

Cannon shells hit the armature. It stumbled. He used the moment to gain speed and crash through the mech's legs.

The juggernauts each shot a rocket at the Mako's back.

Kal tried to swerve away, but the rockets hit and he lost control, slamming into a pile of snow against a large rock. He grabbed the control rod of the mounted machine gun and rained fury down at the two geth. He blew the shoulder off one, causing it to drop its gun. He backed the vehicle into the second, knocked it over, then drove forward to commence the trip.

The cliff face lowered and leaned away from the road in some spots. He turned right and drove up a steep angle.

"What are you doing?" Wrex asked. "Bad time to be trail-blazing, don't you think?"

He ignored the question and jammed the pedal when they reached a place where the cliff started gaining serious height again. We'll need an extra boost with this one, he thought, and used his physical contact with the steering wheel to issue his own energy field over the vehicle and reduce its mass right as the acceleration reached maximum. The Mako had an eezo mechanism in the engine, but sometimes the land and atmosphere of a planet won out over the modern ground transport.

The wind became harsher than ever at this altitude, and Kal had to increase their mass immediately. They traveled up and down large formations, or took detours around, but slowly gained altitude until the sky-reaching tower of Peak 15 dominated their view ahead.

"Stay here. I'll be right back." Kal latched on his helmet.

His two squadmates were silent for a moment.

"We'll wait ten minutes at most," Garrus said. "Too late to go back, and too hazardous to go looking for you out there."

Kal opened the hatch, climbed out, shut it back, then kicked off the ground and flew into the sky.

He stopped a few klicks into the air and floated in place. _I'll check up on Ashley and Kaiden at the port._ He turned his head and squinted, using his telescopic and x-ray eyes to search for his other two comrades. For all I know, they may be the pair to run into Benezia. He looked into a garage, where geth waited in resting, then a cafeteria. Bodies lay on the floor or slumped over in seats. Human, turians, and asari were torn apart by bullets. Further out was a wide open plaza with stairways leading to offices. Ash and Kaiden were in the furthest office on an upper floor, gunning down a crowd of husks. They looked to be holding their own.

He closed his eyes, restarted the settings, turned to face Peak 15, and opened them again, beginning to readjust for a thorough scan from bottom to top. Again, he saw a garage, this one occupied by geth and krogan. The cafeteria's windows were busted, and winter had begun to claim the inside. There was an elevator at the end of the top landing, a rectangular room to the side... _wait_. Three organic creatures patrolled the landing, each half as tall as an average man and best described as a cross between spiders and crabs. Rachni? Where was the queen? Further search into corridors, a VI core and main reactor revealed dozens of rachni; though the place was devoid of any humanoids. He had read reports before the mission that explained these structures on Noveria were for the purpose of genetics research and related business._  
><em>

_Benezia better be on this planet, or the whole trip was a waste._ He uncovered a tram station. Its rail led through a tunnel in the mountain, back out across an open pass, then into a second tunnel.

The tram's nose appeared at the tunnel exit. An asari, wearing a black body suit and armed with a pistol, sat near the front. Kal reached for the com button on his helmet. "Garrus. Climb in the driver seat and follow my signal."

"What signal?"

The tram entered the next tunnel for Rift Station. _Best confront them before they can hide behind armies of geth and rachni._ He flew down into what he guessed to be the far edge of the Mako's radar range, then curved up and away in the tram's direction.

"Gotcha, Shepard. Heading your way."

The tram was almost completely in the tunnel by the time he came within reach of the back. He uprighted himself, grabbed the corners, and set his feet on the icy ground. Sparks gushed from between the vehicle and rail, turning snow to steam. A constant screech canceled the noise of the wind for a few moments. Then the tram stopped. Kal let go and ran a hand over the foggy back window in time to see three asari commandos thrust their arms out at him. He flashed straight up into the air as the entire back wall exploded outward. He turned and floated back, stopping above the snowbank framing the tunnel entrance. The commandos ran out, pistols raised.

"Good afternoon, girls."

They turned and fired.

Kal slam-landed on the bank. Snow fountained up around him and spilled over onto his enemies, burying them. "Take them alive," he said to Garrus. The Mako was almost over the last rise at the other end of the pass.

He jumped down to the base of the snow hill and entered the tram. The front window was busted through. Someone stood in the tunnel beyond. He strode out the window, stopped a few meters from the stranger, and scanned them with both x-ray and infrared vision. She was definitely an asari matching Benezia's description. For some odd reason, there were bulging implants nestled between her head tentacles; the devices were secured to her skull, and connected to multiple sections of her brain by intertwining wires.

"Know why I'm here?" He asked.

"You are out of time and place, Kal-El." The voice was masculine and monotone, reverberating in the tunnel. "A relic flaunting obsolete technology, deluded into thinking he can turn the tides of my dominion."

Kal found himself feeling intimidated. "You're confused, Benezia. Let's find you some help."

The light of biotics brightened around the woman, and she turned to face him. Her eyes were whited out. A glowing circuitry pattern crept from under her hood to her cheeks. "That personality is gone. I consumed her every memory and thought."

The man shook his head. "Asari matriarchs exercise great power over their minds and spirits. Their entire reproductive system is based on mental imprinting."

The woman aimed the palm of her hand at him. "Call out to her. Beg her to reclaim her body. You will fail to reach her."

He darted to the side and zoomed forward, meaning to pass next to her and make her stumble.

She caught his ankle when he had almost flown past, and displayed superhuman strength and speed by using his momentum to spin him back around.

His head skidded on stone.

She let go and threw him into the opposite wall.

His fell hard to the ground and his body went stiff. He could barely breathe, as his diaphragm had been so lowered when the stasis attack happened. Benezia appeared a blurry shape standing over him.

The cells in his body would experience a second of vulnerability when the field disappeared, in which time he was as vulnerable as a normal human. And he was certain his armor's barriers were damaged from the earlier pounding.

Shots hammered his head rhythmically, slowly cracking his helmet. He mentally fought to stay conscious while pain pounded in his head and his lungs burned for air.

He understood the closeness of death in that moment. His mother was a nice memory to hold at the end, for comfort and inspiration. She was the heart of his existence, even thousands of years after her death. He owed his values, principals, and thought processes to her.

_There's a chance to win, though minuscule. Go for it._

He tried to bend at the waist, and kept trying until the stasis field flickered off. His preparation did bend him at the waist, right gunfire flashed bright in his vision. A searing pain ran from his forehead and over his scalp, but he had narrowly dodged being shot in the head while exposed. He drew in cool, life-giving air.

Kal rolled away and climbed to his haunches. Benezia stood a little distance off, moving her pistol to aim at him. He leapt to the side a millisecond prior to the assault, and a bullet grazed his shoulder.

Then he felt that refreshing electrical crackle on the surface of his skin. He was back in action.

Benezia fired at directly at him. The bullets entered his armor, but glanced off the suit underneath.

The woman growled and flung her arm out, tossing away the gun in the same action.

Kal kicked off the ground above the reach of the biotic push and shot duel heat beams from his eyes to the nodes coming from the asari's scalp.

She cried out and fell to her knees, gripping her head.

Kal zoomed forward and slapped her in the face. The attack was light by his standards, but sufficient to send the woman sprawling to the side, where she lay still. He used x-ray vision to confirm her heart was still beating, then walked to her and tore off the sleeves of her robes, using them to secure her hands behind her back. He tossed the woman over his shoulder and began walking down the tunnel, back to his squadmates.

"The rachni queen," Benezia murmured.

The man stopped mid-step. "The queen is near, after all? Where?"

"The other way. Drop me and go the other way. Please free her from her prison."


End file.
